


The Lost Myth of True Love

by sugarlessgum



Series: Queliot Week 2019 [3]
Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fairy Tale Elements, M/M, True Love's Kiss, background wickodi, previous timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-15 05:23:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19289014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarlessgum/pseuds/sugarlessgum
Summary: "So, uh, something happened." Penny opened his hands a fraction, giving Julia a glimpse of a small pond frog squirming around in the darkness."That's... neat? Where did you find that?""It's Quentin.""I'm sorry, what?"---"my best friend got turned into a frog and now i'm being the best wingman/woman/person ever by carrying them around to bars and getting hot people to kiss them in hopes of hooking them up with their true love" AU





	The Lost Myth of True Love

**Author's Note:**

> Queliot Week Day 4: Free Day
> 
> Inspired by a prompt from [this list](https://kuribohwithchain.tumblr.com/post/138210591004/mythological-creature-aus)
> 
> Title from "Talk" by Hozier

Julia sat at one of Brakebills library's more remote tables working on her Magical Law & Ethics homework when Penny crashed into a chair next to her. She looked up with a smile but quickly dropped it when she saw the worried look on her boyfriend's face. He was cupping something unseen between his hands — something living if the muffled noises coming from the cracks between his fingers were any indication.

"So, uh, something happened." Penny opened his hands a fraction, giving Julia a glimpse of a small pond frog squirming around in the darkness.

"That's... neat? Where did you find that?"

"It's Quentin."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It's  _Quentin._ " The frog croaked loudly. Penny inched his chair closer to Julia. "He was having this argument with one of the Knowledge students about fairy tales and Aaron Thomas or whatever–"

"You mean Aarne-Thompson?"

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, they were having this big nerd fight over fairy tales and shit. Then the Knowledge student got all pissy and she turned him into a frog."

"That's... Really? I mean, really?"

"You don't believe me?"

"Of course I do." Julia held her hands out for Penny to transfer the frog —  _Quentin_ — to her care. She kept her palms flat and open but he made no move to jump away. "Q? Are you in there?"

He croaked in response.

"Can you actually understand me or was that a coincidence?"

Another croak.

"Raise your right hand if you know what I'm saying."

Quentin lifted his little frog hand into the air.

"Shit... What now?"

 

It didn't take long to track down the other student. Julia only knew one person with a fairy tale obsession and a temper big enough to pull a stunt like this.

"I don't know what you want me to say," Nadine said without a hint of concern. She was in the Knowledge students' living area above the library, thumbing through what looked like an 800-page tome. "He was being a dick."

"So you turned him into a  _frog_ _?_ "

"Calm your tits. It's reversible."

"Great, then reverse it."

"Can't."

"You just said-!" Julia stopped and let out a frustrated sigh. "How do I fix this?"

Nadine sent her a look full of so much condescension it was almost palpable.

"It's 'The Frog Prince,' Julia. You break it with true love's kiss."

"Seriously? Nadine, that's the stupidest shit I've ever heard." Julia glanced down at Quentin, still sitting in her hand. Who the hell was his true love?

Nadine threw her hands up in a  _What do you want me to do?_ gesture. "It is what it is. If you want to turn him back, you're gonna have to play by the rules. Bye now."

Julia stood there silently fuming and considering homicide until Penny placed a gentle hand on her arm.

"Come on, Jules. You can settle this later. Let's figure out how to help Quentin first."

"For the record," she directs at Nadine, "'The Frog Prince' didn't have any of that true love's kiss bullshit until the 19th-century, so fuck you."

She stormed out of the room with Penny close on her heels.

"Did you just know that off the top of your head?" he asked, sounding absurdly fond. "You're such a nerd."

"Fairy tale curse now, flirting later."

 

Their first step was to find Margo and Eliot to see if they had any clue who Quentin's true love might be. At least it would've been if Julia had any idea where they were. She and Penny searched the whole campus but no one seemed to know where they went. Whatever. She didn't have time to launch a search party.

Instead, they tracked down their first lead: Alice Quinn.

She and Quentin had become friends almost instantly during their first semester at Brakebills. In fact, Quentin seemed to be one of the only people Alice willingly interacted with. Julia thought there was a fair chance the two could've fallen for each other somewhere between all those study dates. They found her in the campus coffee shop, dumping a stomach-churning amount of sugar into her coffee.

"It's not me," she said after Julia was finished explaining the situation.

"Are you sure? Can't you just try anyway?"

Alice studied Quentin where he was sitting in the middle of the table.

"Is Quentin... okay with this? I mean, the whole 'true love's kiss' thing has always presented certain consent issues. And I guess being a frog isn't really the same as being unconscious, but still..."

The three of them looked at Quentin, waiting for some sort of response. He let out a series of frantic croaks and ribbits.

"Now, I don't speak frog," said Penny. "But I'm still getting a vague reading of his thoughts. Mostly just a fuzzy sense of his emotions, really. But he's giving the all clear to try. I'm pretty sure."

Alice held her hand palm-up over the table and Quentin hopped in. She kissed the side of his head, then they all held their breath and waited.

Quentin simply let out a helpless ribbit and hopped back to the table.

"I'm sorry."

Julia sighed. "It's not your fault. I have no idea what to do next."

"Have you tried talking to Margo and Eliot? They're closer to him than anyone besides you. I'm sure they'd have some idea."

"No one can find them. We're on our own."

Julia and Penny left Alice at the table and went to find the next name on their list.

 

"Seriously?" Kady asked. "Quentin and I barely know each other."

"Look, I know it's a long shot but can you please just try?" Julia knew she sounded desperate, but that's only because she was. "Please. We're running out of options."

Kady rolled her eyes but dutifully kissed the top of Quentin's head. Predictably, nothing happened.

"Right. Thanks for trying anyway."

 

Julia went to anyone and everyone she could think of. People they shared classes with. Physical students milling about the Cottage. Anyone Quentin saw on a regular basis and could have plausibly developed feelings for. She was rapidly running out of options.

"It's hopeless. We're never going to find them."

She and Penny were sitting in the common room of the Physical Cottage. Quentin croaked sadly from the coffee table.

"Maybe you should give it a try," Penny said. "I mean, true love... That can be platonic, right? You just spent all day running around campus trying to save his ass. That sounds like true love to me."

He had a point. Quentin was her best friend. Of course she loved him. Julia kneeled on the floor in front of the coffee table and held her hand out for Quentin.

"I love you, Q. And I really hope this works." She pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Nothing happened. "That overly-literal, traditionalist bitch!"

She could feel tears start pricking at her eyes. Penny wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, we'll figure it out. It's okay."

"No, it's not. We've tried everything."

The tears started falling freely down her face when they heard familiar laughter from the hallway. A moment later, Margo and Eliot came strolling into the room. They both stopped in surprise as they took in the sight before them: Julia openly weeping and clutching a frog in her hands. Weird even by Brakebills standards.

"Are you okay?" Eliot asked.

"Where the hell have you two been?"

"We took a portal to London for a pub crawl." Eliot crossed the room and knelt beside Julia. "Come here, tell Daddy what happened."

"It's Quentin." Eliot and Margo both froze.

"What's wrong with Quentin?" Margo demanded. Julia held her hands up and Quentin let out a quiet, doleful ribbit.

"He's a  _fucking frog._ "

 

Eliot poured them all drinks while Julia and Penny explained what happened. Quentin was perched on Margo's knee. She studied him over the rim of her glass.

"We went to everyone we could think of. I even tried kissing him myself. Nothing worked."

"Right." Margo set her glass aside and scooped Quentin off her knee. "My turn then." She gave him a quick, business-like kiss then held him at arm's length to watch him.

"Well, shit."

"It's probably a futile effort at this point," said Eliot. "But I'll throw my hat in the ring."

Quentin was transferred from Margo to Eliot and the entire room held its breath. Slowly, gently, reverently, Eliot brought Quentin in for a kiss.

One moment, there was a small, green frog sitting in Eliot's hands. The next, a very human, very naked Quentin was sprawled on the couch between Margo and Eliot.

"Holy shit." Quentin stretched out his fingers, blinked at everyone in the room. "That was... trippy..."

Penny tossed a throw blanket at him and Quentin wrapped it around his shoulders. "Thanks."

Eliot was still watching Quentin, awestruck. Julia threw herself at him and he hugged her back as best he could without dislodging the blanket.

"Never, ever do that again. You scared the hell out of me." They pulled away and Quentin glanced at Eliot nervously.

"Hey." Eliot blinked, smiled.

"Hey," he said back. They stared at each other, not saying anything, until it became supremely uncomfortable for everyone else.

"Well," Margo said, breaking them out of their trance. "Now that we've settled that ordeal, I'm starving. And I'm sure Q hasn't eaten anything all day. Except maybe bugs."

"Ah, yeah. Dinner sounds great actually."

"Perfect," Eliot chirped. "Let's get you dressed while they figure out food." He wrapped an arm around Quentin and helped him off the couch. Margo snorted as they made their way upstairs.

"They're going to be insufferable."

Julia could see the fond smile on her face, knew it matched her own.

"Oh, absolutely," she agreed. "Now. I need your help getting even with a Knowledge student."


End file.
